Mobile Analytics Platforms¶

Mobile analytics platforms collect user behavioral data from mobile apps via SDK integration. This entry covers the major platforms (Firebase, AppMetrica, Amplitude, Mixpanel), their SDK integration patterns, and key reporting capabilities.

Key Facts¶

Analytics SDKs must be planned during app design, not bolted on after launch
Event map (specification of all trackable actions) should be defined before development sprint
Retro-fitting analytics is expensive - define events early
All platforms share core concepts: events, user properties, event properties, sessions
Free platforms: Firebase Analytics, AppMetrica (Yandex), MyTracker (VK)
Paid/freemium: Amplitude, Mixpanel, AppsFlyer, Adjust

Patterns¶

Platform Comparison¶

Tool	Type	Cost	Strengths
Firebase	Product + Marketing	Free	Native Android/iOS, BigQuery export, A/B testing
AppMetrica	Product + Marketing	Free	CIS market strength, Yandex integration
MyTracker	Product + Marketing	Free	VK ecosystem, Russian market
Amplitude	Product analytics	Freemium	Best funnel/retention UI
Mixpanel	Product analytics	Freemium	Event-centric, flexible segmentation
AppsFlyer	Attribution	Paid	Best attribution, 6000+ integrations
Adjust	Attribution	Paid	Attribution, deep links, fraud prevention

Amplitude Key Charts¶

Event Segmentation: track event volume over time with breakdown by properties.

Funnel Analysis: visualize conversion through multi-step flow with segmentation and time windows.

Retention Analysis: N-day, bracket, and return-on retention curves by cohort.

Pathfinder: shows actual user navigation paths - what users do after event X or before drop-off Y.

Personas / Behavioral Clustering: group users by usage pattern similarity without predefined criteria.

A/B Testing (Amplitude Experiment): sequential testing methodology to allow early peeking without inflating false positive rate.

AppMetrica SDK Integration (Android)¶

// build.gradle
dependencies {
    implementation 'com.yandex.android:mobmetricalib:3.18.0'
}

// Application.onCreate()
YandexMetricaConfig config = YandexMetricaConfig
    .newConfigBuilder(API_key).build();
YandexMetrica.activate(getApplicationContext(), config);
YandexMetrica.enableActivityAutoTracking(this);

// Send events
YandexMetrica.reportEvent("purchase_complete");
YandexMetrica.reportEvent("add_to_cart",
    "{\"item_id\": \"SKU123\", \"price\": 299}");

AppMetrica SDK Integration (iOS)¶

// CocoaPods: pod 'YandexMobileMetrica', '3.15.0'
// SPM: https://github.com/yandexmobile/metrica-sdk-ios (3.14.0+)

let config = YMMYandexMetricaConfiguration.init(apiKey: "API_key")
YMMYandexMetrica.activate(with: config!)

// Send events
YMMYandexMetrica.reportEvent("purchase_complete", onFailure: nil)
YMMYandexMetrica.reportEvent("add_to_cart",
    parameters: ["item_id": "SKU123", "price": 299],
    onFailure: nil)

Amplitude SDK Integration (Android)¶

Amplitude.getInstance().initialize(context, "YOUR_API_KEY")
    .enableForegroundTracking(getApplication());

// Track events
Amplitude.getInstance().logEvent("purchase_complete");

JSONObject props = new JSONObject();
props.put("item_id", "SKU123");
props.put("price", 299);
Amplitude.getInstance().logEvent("add_to_cart", props);

// User properties
Identify identify = new Identify().set("plan", "premium");
Amplitude.getInstance().identify(identify);

AppMetrica Reports¶

Audience: new/returning users, demographics, device info
Engagement: sessions count, duration distribution, time between sessions
Retention: by date interval with grouping and breakdown
Profiles: user distribution by custom attributes with sparklines
Profile Card: individual user view with event history
Logs API: raw data export for DWH/BigQuery/ClickHouse

Amplitude Data Export¶

Amplitude Data (Snowflake): raw events streaming to data warehouse
Export API: download raw event data as CSV/JSON
Amplitude -> Segment -> Anywhere: bidirectional CDP integration

Gotchas¶

AppMetrica has NO native anti-fraud - requires FraudScore third-party integration
AppMetrica retention calculation excludes current incomplete month - verify your date range includes only completed months
Amplitude sequential testing allows peeking but don't stop tests early based on p-value alone without sequential methodology
SDKs for multiple platforms (Windows, Unity, Xamarin, React Native) exist but may have different feature sets
Always verify SDK integration: launch app, use it, check that new user and events appear in dashboard